Exeter Chiefs, Racing 92, Toulouse and ASM Clermont Auvergne joined Leinster Rugby in the last eight after Round 5, but no club has yet secured a home quarter-final.

Pool 1 winners, Leinster, who travel to Benetton Rugby next Saturday, lead the way on 24 match points, after Dave Kearney spearheaded a six-try spree and Ross Byrne kicked five conversions in their 42-14 home win over Lyon.

Two points behind the four-time champions are Exeter, Racing and Toulouse, who all clinched top place in their respective pools in Round 5.

Exeter drew 31-31 at Glasgow Warriors on Saturday in a Pool 2 thriller, with both sides scoring four tries and Matt Kvesic notching two for the Gallagher Premiership club, who host La Rochelle next Saturday.

Meanwhile, Toulouse eased to a 21-7 success over Connacht Rugby in Pool 5 with three converted tries, although they had Zack Holmes sent off seven minutes from time. The four-time winners are at home against Gloucester Rugby next Sunday.

Yesterday, Racing hit back from 16-11 behind at home to Munster to defeat the Irish province 39-22 in Pool 4. Teddy Thomas claimed two of their four tries, three of which came in the last nine minutes to set them up perfectly for their mouth-watering trip to Saracens next Sunday.

Clermont clinched a place in the last eight with a 29-13 home win over Ulster Rugby on Saturday, the French club’s second-half display also being key in overtaking their nearest rivals at the head of Pool 3, after John Cooney, who scored all the visitors’ points, had given Ulster a 10-9 lead.

The Pool 3 winners will be determined next Saturday, when Ulster host Bath Rugby and Clermont travel to Harlequins. The Irish province are currently the highest-ranked runner-up on 17 points – three ahead of Gloucester, Saracens and Northampton Saints, and five in front of Glasgow, with three runner-up places to be filled for the quarter-finals.

Gloucester jumped over Connacht with a 29-6 home win over Montpellier on Saturday, while Saracens leapfrogged Munster with a 22-15 victory at Ospreys despite having Rhys Carre sent off after four minutes, and yesterday Northampton rallied from 10-5 down to defeat Benetton 33-20 at home. The Saints, who grabbed four tries in the second half, now travel to Lyon next Saturday.

It’s all to play for next weekend in Round 6 of the Heineken Champions Cup in what should be one of the most exciting climaxes ever to the pool stage of European rugby’s elite club competition.